Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out eight, in the 5-1 win over the Padres.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 17.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 18th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—Chris Carter of the Brewers hit a two-run homer and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-3 win over the White Sox.
Notable—Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bumgarner (6IP 5H 2R 0BB 10K in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
Bumgarner now also has 105.7 career points, 61st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. With his point Saturday, he passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 60th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).
Also notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- David Ortiz of the Red Sox (2-2B 3-4 R 2BI in the 11-2 win over the Athletics) now has 143.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (143.0) on the “all-time” list and now ranks eighth among active players in career points. Ortiz trails 23rd-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. Both Cabrera and Ortiz have 143.9 career points, but Cabrera holds the tiebreaking edge because he has more 2016 Box-Toppers points—11.0 vs. 6.0.
- Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (2B 2-3 R 2BI in the 12-4 win over the Astros) now has 104.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 63rd place since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Saturday, he passes Jamie Moyer (104.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 62nd-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1). Beltran has 6.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Carter and Buxton each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/3 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | LAD 5, SD 1 | Rich Hill (W,11-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 10.0 | BAL 2, NYY 0 | Kevin Gausman (W,7-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | SF 3, CHC 2 | Madison Bumgarner (W,14-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | TB 7, TOR 5 | Blake Snell (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIL 7, PIT 4 | Chris Carter, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | ATL 6, PHI 4 (10) | Adonis Garcia, 3B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIN 11, CHW 3 | Byron Buxton, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | LAA 10, SEA 3 | Kole Calhoun, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 3, WSH 1 | Jeurys Familia (S,45) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | KC 5, DET 2 | Wade Davis (S,22) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 8, MIA 3 | Francisco Lindor, SS | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 9, COL 4 | Chris Owings, SS | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 11, OAK 2 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 12, HOU 4 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 9, STL 1 | Joey Votto, 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.0 | 30.0 | 100.0 | 105.7 | -4.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | 36.1 | 8.4 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 9.5 | 14.5 | 31.2 | 63.2 | 4.5 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 9.1 | 14.8 | 22.5 | 22.5 | 3.4 |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b | mil nl | 8.5 | 9.5 | 27.4 | 28.4 | 7.5 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -2.0 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 6.0 | 10.5 | 41.9 | 143.9 | 1.5 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | tex al | 6.0 | 9.5 | 26.9 | 104.9 | 2.5 |
| Calhoun, Kole 3279 | rf | ana al | 5.0 | 8.2 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 1.8 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.5 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | min al | 3.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 2.2 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | kc al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 22.0 | 25.0 | -1.0 |
| Garcia, Adonis 3613 | 3b | atl nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Owings, Chris 3347 | cf ss | ari nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |